Special Issues

Special Issue Guidelines

Special Issues are a fundamental component of the Thermal-Fluids Central Journal System. Special Issues concentrate on special topics of high interest which fall within the scope of the publishing journal. These issues are organized by experts in the topic field and attract high quality articles. Proposals for Special Issues should be sent to the editor.

Proposals for Special Issues should be submitted by guest editors (2-5 guest editors). Proposals should contain the following information:

The journal the Special Issue will be published in

A suggested title for the Special Issue (should not exceed 10 words)

Proposed focus of the special issue including a list of topics which will be covered.

A list of guest editors including their name, emails, affiliations, and a short biography (one paragraph) of each of the guest editors.

A proposed time line and schedule which includes:

Deadline for submission (3-5 months from the initial Call-For-Papers)

First round of review (2 months after submission deadline)

Tentative publication date (2 months after the first round of review)

If the proposal is approved, a Call-For-Papers for the Special Issue will be issued and posted online. All Special Issues are available free of charge at Thermal-Fluids Central in order to gain the highest distribution and recognition within the thermal-fluids community. Special Issue will be made available in an edited volume format as a single PDF published with a special cover with the names of the guest editors. Single articles within the Special Issue are also available for view and download in addition to the edited volume.

The guest editors will be responsible for managing peer reviews of submitted manuscripts. Guest editors should only recommend papers for publication if they fall within the scope of the subject and meet Thermal-Fluids Central's high standards for academic merit. To ensure the success of the Special Issue, guest editors should aim to review over 20 submissions, this will allow for a higher rate of rejection and thus produce a stronger collection of accepted manuscripts. All Special Issues must have at least 10 submissions, if this requirement is not met the papers will have to be moved to the regular section of the journal.

The guest editor should assign at least 3 external reviewers to each paper within two weeks of receiving the manuscript. Reviewers are then expected to submit their reports within a time frame of 4 weeks. After receiving the reviewer's reports the guest editor will need to choose one of the following recommendations for the paper:

Accept Submission

Minor Revision Required

Major Revision Required

Reject the Paper

Only the guest editor reviews the revised manuscript after minor changes have been made by the author. The manuscript can then be accepted once the editor is happy with the revision.

If the guest editor recommends “Major Revision Required,” the recommendation is communicated to the authors. The authors must revise their manuscript in accordance with the reviewers recommended changes and resubmit their manuscript in a timely manner. After the revised manuscript is submitted, the original reviewers are contacted with a request to review the revised version of the manuscript. Along with their review reports the reviewers can make a recommendation: Accept Submission, Revisions Required, or Reject Submission. The guest editor can then make a recommendation which can be Accept Submission, Revisions Required, or Reject Submission.

The authors are unable to view information regarding the identity of the peer-reviewers. Special Issues do however have an acknowledgment page for the reviewers who have performed the peer-review process.